Chamomile and Whiskey coming to Charlotte

For Chamomile and Whiskey it took a late night pairing of beverages for Koda Kerl and Marie Borgman to find perfection.

“The name has definitely been good to us and the story comes up a lot,” Kerl said. “Marie and I had talked a lot about making a band. She had made us some tea with lemon and honey and I poured a shot of whiskey in both of them and we decided that’s how we wanted our band to sound.

“That’s how the legend goes. We didn’t put a lot of thought into it, it just seemed to be one of those moments. Our idea was something to represent us — a little bit smooth with a bit of a bite.”

The Charlottesville, Virginia.-based quintet of Kerl (guitar, vocals), Borgman (fiddle, vocals), Ryan Lavin (banjo, vocals), Marsh Mahon (bass), and Stuart Gunter (drums), has played together for several years and has blended Americana, Irish, rock and folk comforta

Chamomile and Whiskey play at 8 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 30, at Petra’s Bar in Charlotte with local opener Dane Page.

The group is in town to promote its newest record, “Sweet Afton,” which came out on Oct. 29. It followed their full-length debut “Wandering Boots,” which was released four years ago.

This time around the group took its time in the studio and worked to make the music a little different than the live show.

“We were thinking about the relationship between the listener and the music. If you’re at a live concert, late at night with a beer in your hands, you’re going to take in the song differently than if you’re at home making dinner or driving in your car listening to a record,” Kerl said.

"We feel that a lot of the subtler stuff and the nuances come across better to people when they are listening to the album on their own and at the live show we focus a lot on energy and really engaging with the audience. We were pretty aware of that when recording the record and we didn’t make each song the craziest, ragingest tune ever because people will be listening in a different setting than seeing us live.”

Some songs are tougher to pull off live as the group brought in additional musicians and layered some tracks that can’t be duplicated live.

Attention, Kerl said, was given to each track to make it the best it could be.

While “Sweet Afton” was released recently it was actually finished in the spring, but the group wanted to focus on a release-event tour and promotions.

“Not only have we been waiting to put out a record,” Kerl said, “but it took a while just to get it out, so we’re excited for people to hear it.”

The songs, like the band’s eclectic tastes, run the gamut of their influences. Kerl played in a rock band prior to this group and Lavin is from Ireland and brings that sound to the group. Borgman’s fiddle playing can bounce from Irish to bluegrass, as she’s played the instrument since she was four years out.

“When the band started we didn’t have an idea of what we wanted to sound like. So we took all of the different influences people had and it became an amalgamation of that,” Kerl said. “We didn’t want to have a specific genre. We have friends who can say ‘I play in a honky tonk band.’ We didn’t want that. It’s just kind of happened the way it has.”

Want to go?

Who: Chamomile and Whiskey with Dane Page

When: 8 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 30

Where: Petra’s Bar, 1919 Commonwealth Ave, Charlotte

Tickets: TBA

Info: 704-332-6608, www.petrasbar.com

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